When God Was a Woman Themes

When God Was a Woman Themes

Bias

Merlin Stone deals at great length in When God Was a Woman with the operation and result of bias. Western civilization continues to be biased against women. At the time the book is written (1976), the women's movement is on the verge of experiencing male backlash, with Fundamentalists citing God's will as expressed in the Bible as sufficient reason for limiting women's economic opportunities. Stone shows this as a continuing operation over the several centuries brave women have dared to protest. Christians and Muslims have incorporated the ancient Hebrew biases and develop them in their own characteristic ways, even justifying violence against women for alleged witchcraft and other "crimes".

Modern scholars have done little to alleviate the problem, as most share the dominant viewpoint, and either gloss over or purposefully corrupt the reality of Goddess worship in the ancient Middle East. This robs the educational system of any ability to...
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